Browse Ageing Policies

The National Center to Reframe Aging, led by The Gerontological Society of America and supported by Leaders of Aging Organizations, aims to eliminate ageism and promote a balanced narrative of aging across the U.S. It serves as a key resource for communication strategies and tools to positively frame aging issues, fostering a nationwide community to advocate for age-friendly policies. The center's initiatives, which have national scope and target older Americans, include developing resources to counteract age bias and collaborating with organizations to influence supportive policies. Some of these resources include a Learning Center and the guide “Reframing Aging Initiative: A Guide to Telling a More Complete Story of Aging” which includes presentations, press releases, academic work, and more. The guide is designed to be accessible and beneficial even for those without expertise in communication or gerontology, ensuring that anyone can contribute to a more nuanced understanding of aging. Since its inception in 2012 and subsequent growth into a central hub for the movement to reframe aging in 2022, the center has made significant strides in raising awareness and shaping policies, with ongoing efforts to ensure an age-friendly society for all as we age.

The 2022 National Family Caregiving Strategy is a comprehensive plan to improve the lives of millions of Americans who provide unpaid care to their loved ones. The strategy was developed by two advisory councils created by Congress, with input from the public and various stakeholders. The objectives of the strategy are to increase awareness, advance partnerships, strengthen services, support financial security, and promote innovation for family caregivers. The institutions involved in the strategy include 15 federal agencies, state and local governments, public health departments, philanthropies, and community-based, faith-based, and nonprofit organizations. The scope of the strategy covers family caregivers of all ages. The key features and implementation of the strategy include more than 350 federal actions and 150 measures that others can take in the next three years to begin to implement the strategy. The outputs and results of the strategy are expected to improve the quality of life of family caregivers and their care recipients, promote social cohesion and solidarity, create employment and professional opportunities in the caregiving sector, and contribute to the sustainability of the public social protection system. The timeline of the strategy is from 2022 to 2025, and it will be updated as the caregiving landscape evolves.

The RETAIN (Retaining Employment and Talent After Injury/Illness Network) demonstration, a joint initiative by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Labor (DOL), aims to test early intervention strategies to enhance labor force participation and retention among individuals with new injuries or disabilities, thereby reducing their reliance on Social Security disability benefits. The SSA and DOL are the primary institutions, with Mathematica Policy Research contracted for evaluation. Stakeholders include injured/disabled workers, employers, healthcare providers, and state agencies. RETAIN is a national initiative with Phase 1 involving eight States and Phase 2 focusing on Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio, and Vermont. It targets workers soon after the onset of work-impacting conditions and involves partnerships with at least one health-care system in each State. Main Features and Strategies include the early identification of affected workers, the return-to-work coordinators to manage health and employment services. Furthermore, the training for health-care providers in occupational health and several measures encouraging early communication between workers, employers, and health-care providers. Phase 1 involved planning and pilot programs, while Phase 2 started in October 2021. The final process analysis report is anticipated in September 2025, marking a significant evaluation milestone.

The Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act aims to strengthen legal protections against age discrimination in the workplace. Its primary goals are to revise the evidentiary standard for age discrimination claims, to allow mixed-motive claims where age is a motivating factor, even if not the sole cause, and to align the legal standards with other anti-discrimination laws. The key institution involved is the U.S. Congress, with the bill being introduced in the House. Main stakeholders include older workers, employers, legal professionals, and advocacy groups for older persons. The Act has a national scope across the United States. It affects all sectors employing older workers, particularly those aged 40 and above, who are part of the workforce. Key features of the Act include allowing the use of any admissible evidence sufficient for a reasonable fact-finder to conclude that discrimination occurred, not requiring the complainant to prove that age was the sole cause of the employer's adverse decisions and applying the revised standard to various employment discrimination and retaliation claims.The law was enacted in 2021.

The Supporting Older Americans Act of 2020 is the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA). The objectives of the act are to modernize and improve the OAA programs, address the needs and preferences of older adults, and reflect the input of various stakeholders. The institutions involved in the act include the Administration for Community Living, the state and area agencies on ageing, and the service providers. The scope of the act covers older individuals who are at risk of losing their independence due to poor health, disability, or social isolation, with priority given to those with the greatest economic or social need. The act includes the reauthorization and revision of various OAA titles, such as supportive services, nutrition services, caregiver support, elder justice, and Native American programs. The act also introduces new provisions, such as statutory authority for the National Resource Center for Women and Retirement, a demonstration project for recruiting and retaining direct care workers, and increased funding for disease prevention and health promotion activities. The outputs of the act are expected to improve the quality of life, health outcomes, and to reduce the demand for costly institutional care. The act was signed into law in 2020.

The Older Americans Act (OAA) provides home and community-based services, such as nutrition, transportation, legal assistance, elder abuse prevention, and caregiver support, to older adults and their caregivers. Thus, it is cross-sectorial in scope. It was enacted in 1965 and is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, through its Administration on Aging. The OAA covers older adults aged 60 and above with a special focus on those with the greatest economic and social needs, especially low-income, minority, rural, and Native American elders. The key features and implementation of the OAA include the provision of grants to States and territories based on their share of the older population, the establishment of a national network of aging services and programs, the creation of the ACL as the federal focal point on matters concerning older persons, and the authorization of various titles that address specific needs and issues of older adults. The OAA is periodically reauthorized by Congress to update its provisions and funding levels. The most recent reauthorization was in 2020, which extended the OAA programs through 2024 and included new provisions to enhance the quality and accessibility of services.